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Tag: Dr. Grabow restoration

A Dr. Grabow Grand Duke Medium Bulldog Restoration.

December 27th, 2023

Written and photographed by John M. Young

When I first started this blog back on October 30, 2023 one of the first pipes I discussed was a Dr. Grabow Westbrook Dublin. In that blog I wrote: “We all know of Dr. Grabow pipes and likely have our own opinions of them. Anyway you look at it Dr. Grabow pipes are an American icon. I do not feel the need to examine the history of the brand and am including links regarding history for those who are interested.” I think that sums up how I feel today as well as it did then.

History:

Dr. Grabow Pipes: https://www.tobaccopipes.com/dr-grabow-history/#:~:text=The%20famous%20smoking%20pipe%20brand,US%20patent%20number%201.896%2C800.

Dr. Grabow on Pipedia:

https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Grabow

Dr. Grabow timeline, Pipedia:

https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Grabow_Pipe_History_Timeline

Current Dr. Grabow:

https://www.drgrabow.net/

The Dr. Grabow being restored here is a Grand Duke Medium Bulldog. This pipe was part of an estate lot and was not my “target” of the lot. It was just along for the ride. I have nothing against this pipe other than a dislike for heavy clear coat finishes. Here is what this Grand Duke looked like upon arrival:

As you can see from the photos this pipe was pretty much new perhaps, only smoked a couple of times. Judging by the tobacco chamber and the filter I am inclined to say maybe only smoked once. So, what are the steps for this restoration? I am thinking that I will: Ream the bowl, strip the finish, perhaps restain/dye the stummel, polish the stem, clean the minimal residues from the airway and finish with several coats of carnauba wax.

Heavy clear coat is frequently used to hide the blemishes of a flawed briar block. I remember the Waldorf restoration where the clear coat covered and supplied a “glue” to hold literally cubic centimeters of fill in place. I have also seen beautiful pieces of briar hidden from the world with indiscriminate applications of stain and heavy finish. This is not meant to be an indictment against factory made pipes. The turning out of thousands of pipes by using the briar that the company has purchased rather than the selecting the absolute best pieces to work with is how these companies produce mass market pipes and sell them for prices that nearly anyone can afford. This means that these pipes are more of a gamble – will you get lucky and have a “magic” piece of briar or a flawed piece that will serve its purpose?

I first cleaned out the tobacco chamber, reaming is hardly the term I would choose. There was

minimal residue accumulated in the chamber. I used a Smokingpipes Low Country reaming knife and a General triangular scraper for the scraping. I finished with a 320 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel. There was no damage to the interior of the chamber.

Next I wanted to determine which solvent would dissolve this type of finish. The easiest finish to remove is shellac. That is easily removed with 95% ethyl alcohol. Next on the “easy” scale is a varnish that is soluble in acetone. After that we move into the “poly” or as I call them “Space Age Polymers”. That is a tongue in cheek reference to the commercials advertising all kinds of crazy products during the 1960s and early 70s. I have a Kaywoodie with a finish

that I lovingly refer to as diamond coating as I cannot find anything that can affect it, short of sanding. I started the finish removal with 95% ethyl alcohol on a make-up removal pad. It had no effect on the Grand Duke finish. Next I tried acetone on a make-up pad. It did little at first but I could feel the surface becoming tacky as I rubbed. Okay, I think we have the solvent. The rubbing was far too slow a process so, I decided to submerge the stummel into an acetone bath. I keep glass canning jars of solvents for this purpose. The EtOH is an abbreviation for ethyl alcohol. I dropped the stummel into the acetone and topped it off with some fresh solvent to completely cover the stummel. I figured that I would see the results in an hour.

During the acetone bath I turned my attention to the stem. The stem was in excellent shape with only some scratches from light handling of jostling around in a drawer or shipping box. I started polishing with a 2400 micro-

mesh pad. The material was not vulcanite. It too is impervious to the ethyl alcohol but acetone quickly dissolved the plastic stem. Not to self, keep acetone away from the stem. I worked the stem with the 2400, 3200, 3600 and 4000 micro-mesh. Between each pad I would wipe the stem off with an alcohol dampened make-up pad.

After about an hour I used a forceps to remove the stummel from the acetone bath. The finish was very soft and tacky. The problem with acetone soluble finishes is

that they will re-harden with the evaporation of the acetone. That is exactly what this one was doing. I took a couple of paper towels and folded them in half to absorb the spent acetone. I then used a steel brush dipped into the acetone and lightly scrubbed the stummel. The brushing with wet acetone worked very well at removing the finish.

Once removed I sanded the stummel with 400 sandpaper and wiped the stummel down with a make-up pad moistened with alcohol. With no finish obstructing the

view, I could now see there were some serious fills that had been made to this pipe. Along the right side of the stummel there must have been a gouge that ran from about shank high to right above the bead. The rustication attempted to conceal the gouge but there had been some filling as well. I used a fly tying bodkin to remove some of the old fill material that was loose or softened. I then applied brown cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) to the areas where there were small pits that I wanted filled. I quickly used the 1500 micro-mesh pad to smooth these areas. The dust from the micro-meshing was incorporated into the CA and filled the small pits. I allowed the stummel to dry overnight to rid it of the acetone that had soaked into the briar. Acetone is very volatile and would be completely gone by morning. Below are photos of the pipe stripped of finish.

In the morning. I reworked the rustication with a Dremel tool and a round carving bit. This would smooth the filled areas and better blend them to mask the flaws.

There was also a little bit of old filler in the bead cuts. This made them appear like they were “clogged”. I tried to open them more with a piece of folded sandpaper. Unhappy with the result I used a cutoff disk with the Dremel tool to open them. I sanded with the previously mentioned folded sandpaper and applied the black Fiebing’s Leather Dye to the bead cuts as well.

in the briar. I used Fieding’s Black Leather Dye applied with a detail paint brush to darken the recarved areas. When the dye had dried I dabbed the

newly dyed areas with an alcohol dipped make-up pad to blend the new dye with the older. After the dye had dried I again micro-meshed the stummel with the 1500 micro-mesh pad to remove any black dye from the high spots.

With the re-carvings done, I reattached the stem and masked the stamps on both sides of the stummel with painters tape. I micro-meshed the entire pipe from the 1800-3600 micromesh pads. Between pads I wiped the pipe with an alcohol

moistened make-up pad. When finished with the 3600 micro-mesh pad, I removed the masking tape and wiped the pipe with the alcohol. I finished the micro-meshing with the 4000-12000 micro-mesh pads, wiping between

each as before. The pipe was looking far better than when it arrived. I was debating whether to stain/dye the briar with a light brown leather dye. I decided to apply a coat of Before and After Restoration Balm to the pipe and see how the briar looked without a stain.

After a few minutes I used the inside of an athletic sock to remove the remaining Restoration Balm. The briar looked good, almost like a contrast stain had been used. I thought the light brown Fiebing’s unnecessary. A took the pipe to the buffer and applied several coats of carnauba wax. I normally do not use carnauba on a rusticated pipe but this one has enough smooth areas that it seemed worthwhile to do. The pipe was then hand buffed with a microfiber cloth to further enhance the shine of the smooth surfaces.

I admit that I really like the look of this Dr. Grabow Grand Duke Rhodesian. The remaining dark stain gives the natural briar the look of a light contrast stain which stands out against the dark depressions of the rustication. The highly polished stem just makes the whole pipe look even nicer. I think the restoration was a “grand” success in changing a cheap looking drugstore pipe into a pipe that will make people look twice. I love when a couple of hours work changes the subject from the old cast off or ordinary to something unique and pretty. I hope that you found something here that you can use in your own restorations or had an entertaining read. If you like this sort of thing please click the Like and Subscribe buttons. May you have a wonderful and prosperous New Year. Thank you for reading the ramblings of an old pipe lover.

Below are some photos of the finished Dr. Grabow Grand Duke Rhodesian.
A Dr. Grabow Westbrook Restoration.

October 30th, 2023
Written and photographed by John M. Young

We all know of Dr. Grabow pipes and likely have our own opinions of them. Anyway you look at it Dr. Grabow pipes are an American icon. I do not feel the need to examine the history of the brand and am including links regarding history for those who are interested.

History:

Tobacco Pipes: https://www.tobaccopipes.com/dr-grabow-history/#:~:text=The%20famous%20smoking%20pipe%20brand,US%20patent%20number%201.896%2C800.

Pipedia:

https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Grabow

Pipedia timeline:

https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Grabow_Pipe_History_Timeline

Current Dr. Grabow:

https://www.drgrabow.net/

After I retired from being a high school science teacher for 32 years I started restoring estate pipes. As part of my education in the realm of restorations I came across the blogs of Seve Laug (https://rebornpipes.com/). I have to say how impressed I was at his knowledge and skills. Unfortunately my own knowledge and skills were quite undeveloped. Fortunately, ignorance is curable. Through the avid consumption of articles and practice restoring estate pipes I developed a passable set of skills of my own. I received this Dr. Grabow Westbrook as part of a “grab bag” of pipes for restoration from Steve Laug’s partner, Kenneth Lieblich (kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com).

The Westbrook series began in the mid-1950’s. I have to admit that I was drawn to them because of the orange spade. Amazingly, my attraction to them was shared by Dr. Grabow aficionados and according to Dr. Grabow Models (Series,Line) Names Through the Years: “WESTBROOK (c1955? to about 1985 or so) — One of the earliest RJR pipes and very sought after even today, long after the special offer program stopped.” https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Grabow_Models_(Series,Line)_Names_Through_the_Years

So either I accidentally chose a good one or there are a lot of folks who like orange.

This old Westbrook looked dirty and well worn or, as my father used to say “rode hard and put away wet”.

Upon reaming the bowl with a PIPNET I discovered that the previous owner liked to scrape the bowl with a sharp tipped knife. There was a hole all the way through the briar. The edges did not appear charred so I figured he was just a scraper. The next step was to clean away the years of accumulated dirt, oils and grime. This was done using a medium stiffness toothbrush and Murphy’s Oil Soap. Since the pipe was rusticated I also used a brass brush, 12 gauge shotgun bore brush, with the oil soap to get the “lava” from the rustication on the rim and the deeper grooves. The following two photos show the hole after the pipe was cleaned and reamed.

At this point I was faced with a decision. Should I:
1. Scrap the whole restoration and use the pipe as salvage/parts.
2. Fill the bottom of the bowl with J-B Weld and top that with a “pipe mud”.
3. Drill out a regular hole in the bowl and make a briar plug and fit it to the hole.
I have a thing for old Dr. Grabow pipes and Westbrooks in particular, so option 1 didn’t seem very good. I had used the J-B Weld method with pipes that had suffered the scrapings of misguided owners before and had good results but, never with a hole all the way through. I had never tried to fashion a plug so, I went with the “let’s make a plug” method, option 3. Maybe I could also build some new skills.

Not having access to a drill press I tried drilling out the hole by stepping up larger and larger drill bits with a hand drill. This worked ok until I got to the final bit, ⅜ inch. The final bit chipped the briar making the hole irregular. Hmm, does this warrant the purchase of a drill press? Anyway, I can always fill rough spots.

It was time to find a suitable plug doner. I had an old no-name bullnose that I had previously used for a piece of briar and the bottom looks to be nice and thick. Four cuts later I had the beginnings of a plug.

Shaping of the plug was done with small needle files of various shapes and sand paper. This did lead to cramping of the hands. The small notch that you can see on the second photo below was the original draught hole. I kept it intact as a reference point to line up with the Westbrook’s draught hole.

Eventually the plug was fit as well as I was going to get it. I put a bead of J-B EWeld around the sides of the plug and fit it into place using the draught groove to align it to the Westbrooks draught hole. The inside looked good.

It turned out that the plug was not quite thick enough to completely fill the hole on the bottom of the pipe. This led me to do some creative fill work.

I had had enough hand cramping and fiddling with small pieces of wood. At this point I decided to make a slurry of clear J-B Weld mixed with briar dust from other restore projects. I filled in the remaining hole with this slurry and allowed it to dry for several days. Eventually it became hard enough to file and sand.

During the drying I had plenty of time to address a very used and abused stem. The good news with the stem was that the orange clover leaf Dr. Grabow logo lined up perfectly with the shank.

I neglected to take pictures throughout the restoration of the stem. I started by carefully scraping the worst of the calcium deposits and oxidation with a sharp knife. After that I used a wet/dry 220 sandpaper with a light touch to remove the oxidation. I then dropped the stem into Before & After Extra Strength Deoxidizer (For Sale | La Belle Epoque (lbepen.com) for about an hour. After removing the stem from the deoxidizer I let the stem drip much of the chemical back into the container. After the drip dry, I vigorously rubbed the remaining chemical with a cotton rag and ran pipe cleaners through the draught hole. As soon as I had removed all the deoxidizer with the rag and pipe cleaners I applied a coat of mineral oil to the stem and ran a wet-with-mineral-oil pipe cleaner through the stem. To repair the hole chewed through the mouthpiece, I used a piece of plastic cut from a plastic container. Here are a couple of examples with different pipe stem for scale:

I coated the narrow part of the plastic with petroleum jelly and inserted it into the mouthpiece. I then used STARBOND black cyanoacrylate (super glue, abbreviated CA) to build up the missing material. The CA does not adhere to petroleum jelly. I will usually do a light coat of CA and spray it with STARBOND Accelerator to get it to dry almost instantly. Repeat as necessary to fill in the missing material. The repaired spot is then filed with a fine flat needle file and sanded with 220 then 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper. After the sandpaper, I used micromesh pads with grits 1500-12000. Obsidian Oil is used on a cotton cloth between each micromesh pad. The final polishing was done with Before & After Fine Polish and Extra Fine Polish (Lbepen.com). The finished stem looked good.

After the J-B Weld had completely cured and hardened I was able to shape it with a file and sandpaper. The J-B Weld/briar-dust patch was significantly darker than the existing briar.. Fortunately the rustication allowed me to conceal the patch with a few cuts made with a cut-off wheel on the Dremel MultiPro and applications of Fiebing’s Light Brown Leather Dye blended the patch fairly well.

I admit to not being a woodcarver nor having the best tools for the job. It did however work well enough for this old Westbrook and my approval. Due to the rustication of the pipe there was minimal sanding to be done. I did lightly hit the high points with the 3200 and 4000 micromesh pads. After that light sanding I wiped the whole pipe off with 99% ethyl alcohol. I rubbed in a liberal amount of Before & After Restoration Balm (Lbepen.com) with my fingertips and let it dry for an hour. I Rubbed away excess balm and buffed the bowl with the inside of a cotton athletic sock. The final treatment of the wood was a light coat of Decatur Pipe Shield No Buff Wax applied with my finger and worked into the rustication with a toothbrush. The wax was allowed to dry for 30 minutes then was buffed off with a shoe-shine brush.

Below are some photos of the finished pipe:

She may not look as good as she did when she left the factory but she smokes very nicely and has many years and many bowls of tobacco in her future. Thank you for reading the ramblings of an old pipe lover.

John